Recalculating (Part 2)

0:31 Transformation Church, how you doing today? I am so excited that you are in the building, and we believe God is here. However you got here, if you're watching from online, Transformation Nation, We are so excited that you are part of what God's doing. And today we are starting week two of a series that we are calling Recalculating. Everybody shout at me, Recalculating. I really believe that we have 78 more days left in 2018. And I want to let you know that God is not finished with what he wants to do in this year. and there's faith that has to arise in us because God has brought us to a new season and the pace has changed last week we talked about how God will bring us into a place where we're able to go at a different pace that he is setting and I just want to let everybody know in transformation church the pace has changed last week we went to five services come on and and and can I can I help you We're not just screaming because we went to five services.

1:42 All of those services are new vessels that people can come and experience transformation. And I just want to I just want to tell you the data has changed. And I'm going to give you just a little data. When we started these five services this time last year, exact Sunday last year, we were just starting two services. And over the course of what God did over last week, we saw over 2,500 people live in this building come experience transformation. Can we give God praise for that? Oh, but it doesn't stop there. Somebody say the data has changed. This time last year online, Transformation Nation, what it do? There were only 534 of you logged on to Transformation Church watching live. Can I tell you how many people were with us this time last week?

2:42 16,309. Oh, can we give God praise? Listen, somebody say the data has changed. God has accelerated what he's doing. He is trying to get something done on the earth and he is moving us at a different pace. But I want you to remember pace is not fast or slow. Pace is set. And when God sets the pace, then he sustains and we can walk in a grace that is made for that pace. And I'm just believing for your life that God is changing some of the paces. He's calling some of us to more devotion. God is calling other of us to save more money, to be more diligent over what he's given, to spend more time with our kids, to go after and really work on that book that he placed in your heart.

3:37 He's changing the pace because he knows what he wants to do with your life. And some people say, Pastor Mike, well, in this season, I feel like this and it may be too much. If you have grace for it, that is the pace that God has put you in. And we wanna see God in these next 78 days do more than he's done the entire year. Because when we do our part, then God can do exceedingly, abundantly, above. Come on, help me. Oh, you can ask, think, or imagine. And this is what God wants for us, Transformation Church. Just shout at me one more time. The pace has changed. Oh, can I tell you the greatest number? Can I tell you that why we exist as a church is to represent God to the lost and the found for transformation in Christ. And over the past week, we saw 318 people get saved in this church and online.

4:36 Can we give God? No, y'all got to do better than that. Can we give God a shout of praise? Thank you, Lord. That's what it's for. God's trying to change the pace in somebody's eternity. And that takes us having all of us being a part of this vision And I just want to say thank you to every volunteer. Thank you for all TC staff. Thank you to our executive team. Thank you to the pastors. Thank you to every person who held the sign and watched kids and believed in the vision and invited somebody. 318 people had a chance to be transformed in Christ because of what you did. Can we give it up for every partner of what God is doing? Thank you, Lord. Okay, so now we've celebrated because you got to celebrate what God is doing. But now we're going to move forward and keep learning about how we go in the pace that God has set.

5:32 Because when we forget our why, we forget our way. And we cannot forget why God has called us to this. He's called us to this to help transform other people and be transformed in the process. And so when you're a part of this church and you're being a part of what God's doing, it's gonna change others and it's gonna change you. And I really need to let you know today, as we're kind of in a, what I'm calling a revision series, so much has changed in the past 10 months. We usually do January, we usually do a vision series, but God's done so much in 10 months that I said, we can't wait till January because vision is a big deal. proverbs 29 18 i want you to write this down and i need you to apply it to your life and in your heart and with your children in your business and at this church it says if people can't see what god is doing they stumble all over themselves but when they attend to what he reveals they are most blessed and i'm just here to tell you no matter where you are in your life no matter if you're in the gutter, no matter if you feel like you're lost, no matter if you feel like you have everything, if you get a vision from God, it recalculates everything in your life and you're able to be most blessed. But you have to see what God is doing and you have to attend to what God is doing.

6:58 You have to participate in it and we end up most blessed. So one of the things we used last week was an example of a GPS. And when you take a wrong turn, it says recalculating. Or when now you can go faster than you thought you could, it says recalculating. Something that I always find interesting is how sometimes your path and somebody else's path aren't the same. And how you can be going to the same destination, but there may be different ways to get there. Earlier this week, I was in the car with our creative pastor, Charles, and we typed in, we were out of town and we typed in a location. And the location was the same. The end destination was the same. But his was three minutes shorter than mine when it talked about how long it would take to get there. And both of us are holding our devices.

7:55 But what we saw is that there were two different routes to get to the exact same place. And it's one of those things that God reminded me in that moment that you have to go and follow the instructions that you have been given. So that you are not getting out of what God has called you to do. And so many of us are trying to look at other people's instructions and other people's marriages and other people's stuff. And God says, I am calculating you to see what I want you to see on the route, to find what I want you to find where you're going and to still get to the same destination. And as I begin to look at that and thinking about recalculating and thinking about the GPS, one thing came so strong in my spirit that the ultimate destination is always connected to your current location. that God will never route you from a place you're not at.

8:55 And so many of us are trying to tell God, we want the marriage over there, or we want to be the business owner, but we're not being honest about where we currently are. And I need you to see this so clearly, church, that we got to understand what season we're in. I think one of the biggest epidemics in the body of Christ is the lack of self-awareness. We'll faith our way into everything and I'm healed and I'm delivered. No, you're mean and you have bitterness and everybody around you sees it, but you won't admit it. And so God can never calculate you or recalculate you to where he wants you to be because you're acting like you're not where you're at. Uh-oh. and I say it all the time, but God can't bless who you pretend to be. He only can bless who you really are. Or can I say it a different where you really are? And the reason I'm talking about this is because I want us this week as a church, as we are believing in faith, as we're asking God to recalculate the one thing he's going to ask us, like he asked Adam in the garden, where are you?

10:02 Do y'all know that when they sinned in the garden, his first question to Adam was, where are you? He didn't lose Adam. God doesn't lose. He knows the number of hairs on our hair. He didn't lose Adam. He was giving Adam an opportunity to be self-aware and realize where he was at. And I really think as a church and as people, we have to figure out where are we? Am I depressed? Am I hurting? Am I still hiding insecurities? Am I still overcompensating because somebody didn't approve me when I was younger? Come on, church, let's be real. Am I still getting into relationships because I have a need to feel validated by a man or a woman? Am I really doing what God has called me to do in power and in might? Like whether it's good, bad, indifferent, ugly. We have to ask ourselves this question as God is recalculating, where are we?

11:04 And once I feel like we find that question and can answer it honestly, transparently, without all of the ifs, would have beens, and if they would have, this is not a blaming game. See, this is the thing I need everybody to understand. God's okay with wherever you are. Like, like, like if you are in the most broken place of your life, he will take you from there to your destiny. But you have to be OK and admit where you are. And so as I begin to study, I begin to ask God, what is our current season as a church? Where are we as a church? And maybe you need to ask questions like this. where's my current season? Where's my current season in relationship status? Where's my current emotional health? I'm just trying to give you some, some aids to go back to God as you're finding vision for this next 78 days where you're recalculating what God's doing in your life.

12:04 Where am I currently in my financial stability? Where am I? Because God has a destiny for you, but it starts from where we are. Everybody shout at me now. Yeah. We got to figure out where we are now. And so as I begin to look at that in Transformation Church's life, and again, as I talk about this church, God is never doing anything for this house that he's not trying to do for your house. And I found out as I looked and I studied and God brought some things back to me that Transformation Church is in a season that I'm calling the bamboo season. and and and and and just say that with me i know it i know it's a weird title right now but it's gonna make sense in just a minute everybody say bamboo season and i'm calling this message the subtitle unusual acceleration we are in a bamboo season with unusual acceleration and i'm gonna kind of borrow a little bit from a series we just did called planet not buried but we talked about plants and a bamboo is an actual plant. It does not grow in the Western hemisphere, but if you study out bamboos, there's something very significant about it.

13:23 And the only reason that I bring this up is because January of 2012, I'm just giving you a little history. We got a prophetic word at a Monday night prayer. Every Monday night we pray at this church. And if you don't know, some of y'all want to know what the secret sauce of Transformation Church is? It's prayer. We pray all the time and we go to God and we ask him for wisdom. And 2012, okay, six years ago, we were praying and we got a prophetic word from one of the prophets in the house. And for everybody that doesn't know what that is, a prophetic word is just a word of wisdom or knowledge or understanding that brings encouragement or warning to God's people. And if your heart is open, God can show you things that happen in the future and then He'll confirm it with his word and then it'll come to pass if we believe for it. And so this young lady stood up and she said, God is showing me that Transformation Church is going into a new season and it's about to be a bamboo season. And I was sitting there. I was like, bamboo season, don't know about much about bamboo.

14:24 And she said, the bamboo grows for three years under the surface. And y'all know, we know at Transformation Church under does not mean over. Oh, I'm feeling God in this place already. Okay. She said it grows under for three years. And then at the time that it begins to come out, it can grow two inches every hour. No, no. Y'all didn't hear what I just said. Two inches every single hour. One of the toughest materials to build anything out of. And one of the materials that can withstand and be able to be sturdy in all different types of season, it grows in a cluster, a group. And as it grows in a group, it grows stronger and it takes three years for it to go down. But when it comes up, it has unusual acceleration.

15:24 I'm here to confess to you today that I believe that the last 78 days of this year is going to be a bamboo season for you and for transformation church. It's the season of everybody say unusual acceleration. Oh, there's things that God's about to do. That's not going to make any physical sense. There's things that God's going to bring you into that will not be on the regular timetable. timetable because the work he's been doing under is going to come up and it's going to have unusual results, unusual connections, unusual relational equity and meetings and partnerships. Everybody just shout at me, unusual acceleration. Yeah, it's a bamboo season in Transformation Church. And this is the most beautiful thing that I saw.

16:22 It can grow four feet in 24 hours. You missed it. What has not been seen for three years can grow four feet in one day. There are people in here who have been feeling like God has forgotten about what he said to you. that the healing was not going to happen, that the job was just a fictional thing in your mind. But God says, I've been doing work under. I've been doing work under. And I'm telling you that this is a season of unusual acceleration. Do you know the funny thing about this prophecy? Is I became the pastor of Transformation Church in February of 2015.

17:18 It's three years from when I became the lead pastor of this church. And people are trying to figure out why is Transformation Church growing? What is God doing? He gave us a prophetic word almost three years earlier that he was going to do a new thing and it was going to be a bamboo season. and everything that we're seeing God do, I believe is a picture or a precursor to what God wants to do, not just in the organization of Transformation Church, but what he wants to do in the organism of your life. I need somebody to have faith with me right now that God is trying to move us if we have somebody shout at me, faith. We gotta have faith to believe this. And there's some people in here that's like, is he just making this up? And this is just a lot and all this stuff.

18:09 Listen, the Bible tells us, let him who have ears to hear, let him hear. What I'm saying to you is those of you that have the faith to believe that God is not a God who's leaving us at this point, but he wants to take us from glory to glory. I need you to hear this word. And we are experiencing this as a church. And I want you to experience it as a body. And so today I'm calling the message. This is the bamboo season. And I want to give you some keys how to activate unusual acceleration in your life. Like I don't want to. I hate when people like this is our season and we're blessed and all this stuff. And then they don't tell you how they did it. Like so Transformation Church is a how church. We're going to teach you no matter where you are right now.

19:04 Now, remember, you got to admit where you are. Now, come on, let's be honest, because some of y'all be like, it's the season. No, this has been the season of poor stewardship for you. But if you can admit that and apply these principles, God says, I can turn what's been under into something that accelerates at an unusual rate. so I want us to go to the word and I want us to look at Luke chapter 5 and I'm gonna read this entire story and then we're gonna come back and pull some some nuggets out of it it says one day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the sea of Galilee great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God he noticed two empty boats that were at the water's edge for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and he taught the crowds from there.

20:10 Verse four, when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, hey, now go out where it is deeper and let down your nets to catch some fish. Oh, master, you real sweet, man. I'm glad that you're a good preacher, but we worked hard all last night and didn't catch a thing. But if you say so, I'll let the nets down again. And this time their nets were so full of fish that they began to tear. A shout for help brought their partners in on the other boat. And soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking. And when Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, oh Lord, please leave me. I'm such a sinful man for he was awestruck by the number of fish they caught, or he was awestruck by the acceleration.

21:08 and so were the others with him his partners James and John the sons of Zebedee were also amazed and Jesus replied to Simon man don't be afraid for now you'll be fishers of people I want to go back because I really believe that this is the first time that Jesus calls some disciples but he He accelerates what they were doing in a way that didn't make any sense at the time. And I'm going to break this thing down because I want to give you some keys. And I just feel like there'll be about 300 people that their faith will be activated to be able to believe that God can do some unusual acceleration. Your marriage has been on the rocks for six years. But in the next 60 days, I believe that God can bring love back to that thing. I need somebody to have faith with me that your children have been wayward and lost, but God's going to call them back and call them to Christ.

22:11 And he's going to create unique opportunities for God to be made real to them. I'm talking about a bamboo season. Somebody yell at me, bamboo season. All right. So the first thing we got to go, because I got to teach you, OK? The first thing you need to know in this bamboo season is is found in verse two. He says he noticed Jesus noticed two empty boats at the water's edge for the for the fishermen had left them and they were washing their nets. If you're going to activate an unusual acceleration in your life, you have to steward well what's not working well. You have to steward well what's not working well. These men had been out all night fishing. frustrated probably mad that they didn't sleep and y'all know some of y'all are cranky how many people are cranky when they don't get enough sleep okay everybody in here like like so they're probably mad frustrated they've probably wasted resources more than anything the one commodity that we cannot get back is time and and how many people have ever felt like i just wasted time whether it been on a relationship or whether it had been on a business venture, they're probably frustrated.

23:32 But their frustration did not make them negate their responsibility to wash their nets. When Jesus meets them, the very thing that was supposed to help them bring in resource, that was supposed to help provide for them was not working well. But they did not not steward over it because it was not producing for them. And how many of us, when it's not working, we throw it away. When the relationship is not what it's supposed to be, oh, I'm coming for you. You get emotionally attached to somebody else. When the business is not working for you, you don't do your best job. when when things are but these men displayed a character that they stewarded or watched over or were responsible for what was not working well in their lives and i just believe that this was one of the things that attracted jesus to them because they were washing their nets Yes. My question is, what seems insignificant at this moment and not producing for you that God's saying, I need you to take better care of it?

24:52 Because if you know anything about Jesus, when you think about the story of the talons, the parable of the talons, all of them were given something. But it was how they took care of what they were given that allowed them to be qualified for more. and many of us are shouting for God to do more and upgrade my house and give me more business and give me all this thing. God said, you're not taking care of what I already gave. Well, God, it's a 1992 Corolla. It's already ugly. There's nothing I can do. Keep it clean. Wash it. And I'm talking practical stuff right here. Like I'm not talking about your spiritual acumen in the word. I'm talking about taking a shower. Do you hear what I'm saying? Like, steward over your 400 square foot apartment. Because I believe that God is attracted to stewardship. And these men were taking and stewarding well over what was not working well.

25:57 And I need somebody to see if you want unusual acceleration to come to your life, you're going to have to take care of what God has already trusted you with. And I know nobody wants to hear this because you want the new. And God said, but I need you to take care of the old. And these fishermen started washing their nets. And so as I look at this scripture, I said, OK, God. How does that apply to our vision? Well, when God gave us the reins of Transformation Church, there were some things that we decided to do to take care of well what what was not producing as much as we needed there were times where we were believing God to make payroll there were times where we were believing God to pay off bills there were times where we were doing this and the first thing God placed on my heart when I became the pastor of transformation church in the face of all kinds of stuff he said Michael I want you to set aside 10 and I want you to put it over for missions. I want you to take 10% of every dollar dime penny that comes in here, and I want you to steward well. I want you to honor me first. I want you to put me in first place at Transformation Church in a whole nother way. And I want you to put this over here, and I want you to be ready to give it away whenever I say to. And we're looking at the numbers, and we're like, this does not make no sense. Somebody's getting fired. Like, everybody can't keep their job and do this. But God wasn't looking for us to be the supplier.

27:30 He was looking for us to everybody say obey. From the first week I stepped in here, we started putting 10% away. And I'm telling you that over the past three and a half years, God has taken the generosity of this place and the stewardship of the leaders that have been entrusted with this. And he's given us more and given us more and given us more. And this year he said, oh, y'all stewarded over what I gave you for three years. Remember the bamboo. How long does it go down for three years? And you'll find all of this stuff out at our annual report. We publish everything that we do, how much money comes in and all that other stuff. In three years, last year, our whole budget was $1.6 million. dollars every dollar dime cat kleenex that came in in 10 months of god saying it's bamboo season i'm gonna allow unusual acceleration to happen it has tripled in no y'all don't hear me in 10 i need y'all to give god praise in this place listen transformation nation you're a big part of that. Many of y'all since we started the wait till I get my money right series, you've been tithing and sending your offerings in and it allows us to prepare for expansion. We're going to be able to get something else in the name of Jesus because this is the season of unusual acceleration.

29:09 Somebody say it's bamboo season. Somebody's going to believe it by the end of this message. but it takes stewarding well what's not working well and so some of us need to apply that principle to our everyday lives look at verse three stepping into one of the boats Jesus asked Simon its owner so there's somebody that Jesus got in their boat he said to push it out into the water so he had to participate in the miracle that was going to happen for him even when it didn't look like it was for him. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there. Let me give you point number two. When you're activating unusual acceleration, let God sit in what you have. Yeah. So when I'm stewarding well over what's not working well. And then I let God sit in whatever I have. Pastor Mike, how do I let God sit in? Proverbs 3, 5 says, acknowledge God in all your ways. Father, I'm about to make this business move and I'm not going to make it without you. Come sit in this situation with me. Father God, my children, I don't know how to raise them and they're crazy. And I come from an abusive past. So I'm acknowledging that you are the God of all wisdom and I need you to come sit in my parenting and I need you to help me do what I didn't have come on some of y'all have been complaining because you don't have it but God says I can be what you didn't have I can I can show you what you didn't know I can give you wisdom for what you don't have and literally Peter let Jesus sit in the boat that was supposed to be full of fish but they didn't catch anything and it's so crazy i had this thought if they would have catch caught what they were supposed to caught if they were to catch what they were supposed to this is a dr seuss moment right here if they were to have caught what they were supposed to catch the night

31:16 before there wouldn't have been room for jesus in the boat so it was all about everybody say timing could it have been that jesus didn't want them to catch anything the night before because he was setting up a miracle that we would talk about over 2 000 years later like sometimes the setback is not because of what you did the setback is a set up for what god is about to do. Somebody needs to be excited about that. And so because there was room for Jesus, he was able to sit in what Simon had. And I'm just telling you, some of us have so much stuff crowding the space where God's supposed to sit. We have so much social media and so much business and so many, our calendars are full. And God's saying, would you make room for me?

32:16 What would you make? Jonathan McReynolds has a song called Make Room, and I encourage everybody to add that to your devotional time. And the end of the song says you can move that over. And I don't know what that is in your life, but there's some things in your life that you need to move over to make room for God to sit in your situation. If you want to see the acceleration that God wants you to have, it's not going to come without him being in the situation. acceleration comes with jesus being in the situation and so simon doesn't even know it but he's about to get set up for a miracle because he let jesus sit in what he had verse four it said when he had finished speaking he said to simon hey simon now now go where it's deeper and let down your nets to catch some fish now this is funny because jesus is not a fisherman He's a carpenter.

33:16 And it's funny how sometimes God uses the foolish things, the stuff that doesn't make sense, the stuff that there's no way this should be happening. He used the foolish things to confound the wise is what the Bible tells us. And so now Jesus, the unexperienced fisherman, is giving the experienced professional fisherman instructions. and Simon does what most of us do. Jesus, you crazy, bro.

33:49 You don't understand. You wasn't there. We worked all night and we didn't catch anything. Like we've tried this before. We've tried to be a part of small groups. We tried to commit to a church. We tried to be honest and transparent with somebody. We tried marriage counseling. Oh, come on. I tried to live pure. I've tried this before.

34:15 This is not going to work. You don't know what it's like to be out all night and not feel like what you did accounted for anything. You don't know what it's like to be married to somebody and then give 10 years of your life to them for them to leave you for somebody else. You don't know what it feels like. And Jesus is sitting there. Really?

34:37 Really? and this is sometimes the attitude we take when God tries to give us instructions and we feel like he doesn't know our situation and he said we worked all night but then something in him got just I don't know if it was stupidity or the Holy Spirit but it hit him that this was Jesus in his situation and so he said something that I believe many of us need to start saying in our life. Look what he says. But if you say so, I'll let the nets down again. Somebody say, but if you say so, if you're going to activate unusual acceleration in your life, you have to trust the if you say so. Yeah, no, no, no, no. Because many of us want it to make sense and it just needs to be because God said it. Like some of y'all are going to, God's going to say, you need to go and do that. And you're going to say, that don't make no sense. But if you say so, because the, if you say so is connected to who told you. Like you got to realize this is not just one of his friends talking. This is not even a professional fisherman. This is the God of the entire universe. This is the God that knows the plans he has for you. So when God tells you to move from that job to this job and you's getting paid less, you need to stop saying, well, God, I'm not going to make this and this, this. Your response needs to be, if you say so, somebody's about to get this. When God tells you and asks you to leave that relationship that has you live in a lukewarm life and you'll be like, but God, I love them. And he's like, but you don't know what I got for you. He's saying leave and you need to say, if you say, you don't have to understand to obey. Now I want to help you. You do not have to understand full instructions to obey.

36:37 Let's go back to the GPS. You don't know what highway's coming up. You're just obeying instructions. and when you see a sign but it's telling you veer off left or veer off right you have to trust the if you say so well I used to I used to go around this way and they know where the detours are they know where the traffic is you have to trust what God is saying And this disciple would have never seen the miracle that's about to happen if he would not have gone out into the deep. And I need to explain this to you because what you don't know is the reason that they were fishing at night and the reason that they were fishing in shallow waters is because if you put your nets down in shallow waters at night, the fish are there and they can't see you. And so tons of fish would usually come into the nets because it was they were at that place at night.

37:40 So God is telling these professional fishermen to do exactly opposite of what is usual protocol. If you want to see unusual acceleration, you have to obey unusual instructions. He said, push this boat out into the deep. And I bet he's sitting there like, why in the world would we be going out here? Because there's no fish that would ever in the daytime be able to come into this boat. But if you say there is coming a time and I just need you to know, that God's going to require obedience that only can be explained by God if you say so. And that level of faith to believe God when the odds are stacked against you, when God told me in this vision that we would be able to go to more services and we're going, y'all, I'm standing out here and I'm saying, God, if you say so.

38:58 And every time we've done an if you say so obedience step, God has positioned us to have unusual acceleration. It's bamboo season, Transformation Church. But it's going to come as you trust God's if you say so. And look what verse six says. It makes me so excited. It says, and this time, somebody say this time. Because they did what God said. And this time their nets were so full of fish that they begin to tear. What happens when God accelerates you to such a place that you don't even have enough capacity to hold the blessing? I want you I want you to see that God accelerated what they thought they were going to do so much that they had to call other people. people to come help them with the blessing. You don't believe me? Let me prove it to you.

39:59 It says a shout for help. Hey, y'all, God's blessing us so much at Transformation Church. He's blessing my marriage so much. He's blessing my business. This is some of y'all's testimony. If you would have faith to believe it, he's blessing us so much that I need y'all to come help and get this. And it says in a matter of moments, both boats were filled with fish and both boats were on the verge of sinking.

40:35 There is an unusual. Can I just say it like this? Let me just say it like this. When you're activating unusual acceleration, you will be blessed to be a blessing. Let me say it like this. God accelerated them so much that he blessed them to the point where there was no other logical option except to bless other people.

41:04 This is I want you to know the acceleration is not for you. It's so that you can get what you need so that you can give out what you don't like. Like this is the thing you got to realize is God's looking for vessels that he can use to get his agenda done on the earth. If he needs to bless poor people, he can bless them through transformation church. If he needs to bless people that our marriages are broken, he can bless them through you. He can bless them through me. And this is the thing of an acceleration. You have to have a generous heart if God is going to give you unusual acceleration. so can I help you understand how this plays out in transformation churches like as God blessed our finances we gave a hundred thousand dollars away in March we gave fifty thousand dollars away to hurricane relief we have helped tons of families in in very dire situations God has a blessed the church to be a And if you want unusual acceleration in your life, selfishness has to die.

42:16 Let me just put this thought in your head and I got to move to my last point. But what if they wouldn't have had generosity in their heart and would try to put all of God's blessing in their boat? They would have sunk. because you were not meant to hold everything that God's doing in your life just for you.

42:40 Transformation Church, we are not a church that is built for us. We're a church that is built for those who are not here yet. And this season that we are in, where are we at, this bamboo season, it is a season of acceleration, but it's a season so that we can be the answer to other people's problems, that we can create vessels, that people can come get transformed, that we can help them practically as well as help them spiritually so that we can be the ones on our jobs, in our families, on our playgrounds to be the answer and represent God to the lost and found for transformation in Christ. That's what this is all about. And so these young men about to sink carrying the blessing back to the shore. Look what verse 8 says. When Simon Peter realized what had happened, when he realized that God had given them unusual acceleration, when he realized that they got what they didn't deserve, that the grace of God had just poured out on them in a real manifestation.

43:43 And there's some of y'all we keep forgetting that God has been too good to us, that he has graced us, that he has put us in a season of unusual acceleration and we're acting like it's normal. What's happening at Transformation Church is not normal. And we are not going to sit here like, oh, yeah, people just coming from everywhere. No, no, no, no, no. We're going to steward well over what God has given us. We're going to have hearts of generosity. And we're going to realize that there's something that God wants more than the fish. There's something he wants more than you to be blessed. There's an end game to this acceleration. I want to show it to you right now. He said he fell to his knees before Jesus said, oh, Lord, please leave me. I'm such a sinful man. How could the abundance and the acceleration of what God's doing make him convicted about his walk with Christ? but the Bible tells us that it's his kindness.

44:48 that leads us he's leading us to jesus and it was jesus expression of blessing and favor and acceleration that made somebody say hold on i need to get my life right like like there's something in me that i gotta get right and look what he said verse nine for he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him. So everybody was astonished at the acceleration that God was doing. Just like everybody's astonished. Y'all, I've been out of town. People are astonished at what God is doing at Transformation Church, but it's not just to give us a high five and a handshake. He said his partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were all so amazed. Everybody was like, why is acceleration happening at Transformation Church?

45:45 Why is acceleration happening in that marriage? Why is acceleration happening in your business? And look what Jesus replied to him. Don't be afraid for now on you'll be fishing for men, for people. This is what God wanted you to understand. He told them now on you will be fishing for men. You know what that means? the acceleration was for salvation.

46:17 Like Jesus accelerated and blessed them at a rate that made them look at their heart condition and say, who is this man that can work miracles out of nothing? I need him to be a part of my life. And all of these people stopped doing what they were doing and they started following Jesus. that moment because of the acceleration that God put in their life. And from those men, these are the title, the head title to this is the first disciples.

46:54 Off of people who experienced great acceleration, unusual acceleration, God brought salvation to millions of people. And I'm here to tell you, where are we as a church? What season are we in? we're in a bamboo season, a season of acceleration. But the end game of this is he's accelerating us so that we can see people be saved. I'm telling you right now that God's about to do something in this church and something in your life that you're going to have to partner with. And once you do, I'm telling you, eyes have not seen, ears have not heard, and neither has it entered into the hearts of man, the things that God has planned for you and for this church, but it's so that people can come back to Jesus.

47:44 And as I end today, I really feel that this is where we're supposed to end this service. Yeah, God's doing amazing things here, but he's doing it so somebody can be saved. And if you're in this room right now and you've never accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, I need you to ask yourself, where are you really at? Like, don't fake with this. Like, be honest about where you are right now because God can take you to your destination, but you have to be very transparent about your current location. And if you're in this room right now and you want to make Jesus your personal Lord and Savior, and you even want to allow him to change you to the point where you can actually help other people come in to what God is doing in your life. I want you to raise your hand on the count of three, because this is the decision that changed my life. It's the decision that took me from being a liar, addicted to pornography, all consumed with worldly things. And it made me say, you know what? I don't just want to be saved, but I want to be a part of somebody else's life being transformed. That's why I'm here today, because God did it in my life.

48:52 When I say represent and I wear this on my jacket, it's represent, but it is also represent. That's giving the gift of salvation that came to me and living my life in a way that I can give it to somebody else. It is time for us as a church to not be consumers, but be ones that go out and help other people receive what has changed our lives. Know you're not where you wanna be, but you're not where you used to be. And let's for a minute just thank God for his grace. Thank you for seeing us, Father God. And thank you for changing us. If you want to experience that, I want you to raise your hand and I want to pray for you. One, two, three. Pastor, add me in that prayer. Come on, lift your hands. There's hands going up all over this place. Come on, you can put your hands down. Let's pray together right now. We are family. We're all going to pray together. Say, Father, I believe that you came to change my life. Father, recalculate me.

49:52 I believe you lived, you died, and you rose again just for me. And today I make you my Lord and Savior. I'm here. Change me. Renew me. and transform me in Jesus' name. Amen. Come on, Transformation Church. Let's give God a shout of praise in this place. Hallelujah.